Born on April 20, 1935 in Öhringen, Reinhold Würth entered his father's screw wholesale business in Künzelsau in 1949 as second employee and first apprentice. In 1952, he finished his professional training as a wholesaler, successfully passing his examination before the Chamber of Industry and Commerce. After his father's premature death in 1954, Reinhold Würth took over the business's management at the age of 19. In the following decades, Reinhold Würth expanded the regional business into a worldwide operating group of trading companies. Today, the Würth Group is active in the market with more than 400 companies in 86 countries and in 2006 the company achieved a sales volume of EUR 8.5 billion.

In 1994, Reinhold Würth withdrew from operative business and assumed the chair of the Advisory Board of the Würth Group. On March 1, 2006, his daughter Bettina Würth became his successor in this position. Reinhold Würth continues to be the Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Family Trusts. In his professional career, Reinhold Würth has intensively focused on psychological subjects such as the motivation of employees, management culture and questions of professional ethics. He has also devoted a lot of time to cultural questions. The purchase of a watercolor painting by Emil Nolde in the 1960s marked the beginning of his passion for collecting works of art. In the meantime, he has acquired an impressive art collection consisting of more than 11,000 works of art, including pictures, drawings and sculptures of Edvard Munch, Pablo Picasso, Alfred Hrdlicka, Markus Lüpertz and Christo.


At the end of 1991, the committed patron of the arts and culture opened his collection to the public in a separate museum in the wake of the official opening of the new corporate headquarters in Künzelsau-Gaisbach. The museum of modern art of the 20th and 21st centuries integrated in the corporate headquarters is always open to staff and the interested public and presents three to four changing exhibitions every year. With Kunsthalle Würth in Schwäbisch Hall, which opened in May 2001, Reinhold Würth created another attractive forum for his collection.
Public recognition of his business achievements as well as his particular commitment to the arts and society is reflected in many awards and memberships.

Reinhold Würth is a member of various advisory boards, boards of trustees and many clubs and associations (among others, he is chairman of the "Gesellschaft zur Förderung des Landesmuseums Württemberg e.V.," the society for the promotion of the National Museum of Württemberg, and is also chairman of the citizens' action group "Pro Region Heilbronn-Franken"). The enthusiastic pilot (license as a professional pilot/ATPL) and motorcyclist (Harley-Davidson) is married; he and his wife, Carmen, have three children, Marion, Bettina and Markus.

Until the end of the summer semester of 2003, Prof. Reinhold Würth was head of the Interdisciplinary Institute of Entrepreneurship at the University of Karlsruhe. Reinhold Würth is honorary doctor and honorary senator of the University of Tübingen and was awarded both the Great Distinguished Service Cross of the Federal Republic of Germany and the Medal of Merit of the state of Baden-Württemberg. In 1997, he was made freeman of the city of Erstein (France). In recognition of his outstanding merits and commitment to the spreading and communication of French art and culture, Reinhold Würth was presented the order "Chevalier dans l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres" by the French ministry of education and cultural affairs in March 2000.
In April 2003, the freedom of the town of Künzelsau was bestowed on Reinhold Würth and his wife Carmen for their social and cultural commitment. In March 2004, Reinhold Würth was appointed Knight of the Legion of Honor. In April of the same year, Ludwig Erhard Foundation Bonn awarded him the Ludwig Erhard Medal for merits to the social market economy. In May 2004, he joined the Business Hall of Fame (on the initiative of the manager magazin and the Haus der Geschichte der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, Bonn). In June 2004, Reinhold Würth was awarded the German Founder’s Prize for his life’s work. The German Founder’s Prize is awarded once a year by StartUp and its partners stern, Sparkassen (German savings bank), McKinsey & Company, and the TV channel ZDF, honoring successful enterprises in different stages of existence – from concepts up to life’s works. In 2005, Professor Reinhold Würth was appointed Honorary Senator of the University Stuttgart. In November 2005, Professor Reinhold Würth was appointed officer in the Royal Order of Oranien-Nassau. For his manifold cultural activities in Palermo, the entrepreneur was awarded an honorary doctorate in art history and museography by the University of Palermo in May 2007. In November 2007, Prof. Dr. h. c. mult. Reinhold Würth was given the honorary doctorate by the University of Louisville (Kentucky, USA) for his exemplary commitment to business, public service, and cultural enrichment.